Kansas City, Mo. -- Director of Athletics Tim Hall announced today that the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation and its trustees Raymond F. Beagle, Jr. and Charles J. Egan have pledged a $5 million gift to the UMKC Athletics Department for the construction of a new soccer stadium in the heart of UMKC’s Volker campus.

The Foundation’s leadership gift represents the largest single commitment to UMKC Athletics. The competition venue of the Stanley H. Durwood Stadium is anticipated to be completed for the new UMKC women’s soccer program’s first game in 2009. The entire complex is slated to open in the spring of 2010.

The facility will provide the Kangaroos with one of the top soccer facilities in the Summit League and the Midwest. In addition to serving the student-athletes, the facility will play home to student intramurals, and it will also host approved community partners. The signature facility also calls for the construction of locker rooms and offices that will benefit the UMKC men’s and women’s soccer, softball and men’s and women’s track and field programs. It also will feature a premier four-lane track and a concession area.

With the timeframe for the stadium’s completion being concurrent with those of other campus capital projects, the momentum generated by its construction will invigorate comprehensive support for UMKC. The project, along with Oak Street West, the Student Center, the Miller Nichols Library expansion and the Conservatory of Music and Dance’s Performing Arts Center expansion will all change the face of the Volker campus.

Stan Durwood was one of the University’s and the athletic program’s most ardent supporters. His affiliation with UMKC began when NCAA Division I participation was a pipe dream. Durwood’s enthusiasm for UMKC Athletics continued through admission into Division I and the Mid-Continent Conference. In 1994, he was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal, the highest non-academic honor the University can bestow upon a community member.

Durwood also helped establish an endowed scholarship for UMKC student-athletes. The Durwood Educational Fund provides financial assistance in the form of scholarships, equipment, travel funds and other program enhancements to make competition at this highest intercollegiate level a reality.

Like its namesake, the Durwood Foundation and its trustees strongly support a variety of UMKC initiatives. In 2007, the Foundation established a creative writing fellowship to help the English Department compete for talented graduate students. The Conservatory of Music and Dance and School of Dentistry also have benefited from the Foundation’s generosity. Since 2005, the Foundation has pledged over $1.3 million in grants to several University initiatives.